To China with help

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From left are firefighter Rich Atwood of Mission
Viejo, captain Donald
Roy of Moreno Valley and firefighter Darrick
Woolever, from Long
Beach, all from the L.A. County Fire Department
station 103 in Pico
Rivera, who recently returned from a tool & equipment
familiarization
exercise to show Chinese counterparts how to use
equipment, shown here
on Friday, May 30, 2008. The firefighters took
equipement like saws,
heavy lifting gear, concrete cutting gear and jack
hammers, all of
which they donated as well. (Raul Roa/Staff)

PICO RIVERA – For local firefighters at Station 103, rescue operations are all in a day’s work.

The specialized crew performs heavy-lifting rescue operations around Los Angeles County, as one of two Urban Search and Rescue task forces serving the area.

Not content to help only locals, three of the men recently journeyed to China, bringing with them equipment donated by the United States Agency for International Development in the wake of the devastating May 12 earthquake.

Capt. Donald Roy, Firefighter/paramedic Rich Atwood and Firefighter/paramedic Darrick Woolever returned last week after spending four days training rescue workers to use equipment headed for the disaster zone in Sichuan province. Four others accompanied them to train about 40 Chinese firemen and safety officers.

“The concept was to introduce some equipment they might be familiar with, and some that would be new to them,” Roy said. Heavy-lifting machinery and metal-cutting tools were included in the delivery.

Roy said $380,000 worth of goods were sent with their team to be used in the current relief effort, and in any disaster to come.

So far, USAID has donated about $1.5 million to help victims of the magnitude-7.9 quake, which has killed an estimated 67,000 people. Another 20,000 are missing, presumed to be buried in the rubble of toppled buildings.

The Pico Rivera men said that despite a language barrier, they laughed and joked with the men they trained with the help of translators. Atwood said the trainees were tired after working for a week or more to rescue quake survivors.

“We were taking away from their rest time, their down time,” Atwood said. “But they were absolutely outstanding. Firemen are firemen, no matter where you are in the world.”

The cooperation between the training crew and rescue workers in China was the first time the United States has been permitted to train workers there.

Woolever said that as their plane took off, a strong aftershock hit.

“Everything was dusty in the windows as we took off,” Atwood said.

Work to clean up damage and repair infrastructure after the earthquake continues.

According to USAID, more than 35 “quake lakes” have been formed by the initial shaker, numerous aftershocks and landslides.

More than 5.4 million buildings collapsed and 21 million others throughout Sichuan Province were damaged.

According to Roy, however, the assistance they offered will mean safety workers in China can continue the relief effort long after rescue teams from abroad go home.

“The main objective is to not go back in again,” Roy said.

Capt. Bob Lee, who is also a member of the international team but was not called out for this trip, said losing even a few men for a few days can be tough on the rest of the 21-person fire station.

“You have to backfill with qualified staff,” Lee said. “The guys here have to pick up and cover for each other.”

Members of the team have traveled to Africa, South Korea, Finland and other locations since the program began in 2001, as well as to disaster sites in the U.S.